“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” - Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm, was the first Black congresswoman, first Black candidate for a major party’s presidential nomination, first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, as well as the first woman to appear in a US presidential debate.

In her presidential announcement she declared, “I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history.”

View the complete Affirm Black Women portrait series here